News/Nouvelles : Rural Canada News Scan - February 2011

Source: Compiled by the Canadian Rural Research Network.
Online news on rural Canada for February, 2011. Click on the heading to access the online article.

Feds announce doctor training positions in rural Canada
Toronto Sun, February 23, 2011
The federal government is forking out nearly $40 million over six years to a number of provinces to shore up family medicine in Canada's rural and remote regions.

Provinces get cash to train rural doctors
CBC.ca, February 23, 2011
Matthew Sheppard, president of the Canadian Federation of Medical Students, says he'd like to see more students from rural Canada applying for medical school.

John Ivison: Harper finds election cure in doctor pledge
National Post, February 23, 2011
The Harper government's announcement that it will spend $40-million to hire 100 new doctors for rural Canada should, in theory, reduce the babble about a federal election this spring.

Rural anglophones a vanishing breed in Quebec
Montreal Gazette, February 23, 2011
In a reversal from the 1960s, rural anglophones now lag behind francophones according to most economic indicators, according to a 2008 study by the Centre d'etudes ethniques des universites montrealaises (CEETUM) and the Canadian Institute for Research ...

100 New Doctors Falls Far Short of What's Needed
Soonews.ca, February 23, 2011
New Democrats are highlighting that this is a fraction of what is needed to properly address the shortage of medical professionals in Canada, especially for remote and rural communities.

Rural Canadians deserve access to the new digital frontier, too
Vancouver Sun, February 15, 2011
Over the past week, all of Canada has heard arguments on whether individuals should be required to pay more for their Internet service after they have watched the equivalent of some 50 movies in a month.

The rural sick and the great exodus
Times and Transcript, February 12, 2011
FREDERICTON - As the province's rural population packs up and moves en masse to urban centres, questions are emerging about whether an overhaul to health care delivery is in order.

Education budgets stressed as families move from rural to urban areas
Western Star, February 16, 2011
The problem isn't unique to Atlantic Canada, said Annie Kidder of People for Education, an Ontario-based, parent-led organization. Kidder said there has been a surge of school closings in Ontario over the past two years, mainly in rural and northern ...

Service Canada Community offices being closed
Coaster, February 15, 2011
The federal government slapped rural Newfoundlanders and Labradorians in the face recently when the Department of Human Resources and Skills Development Canada announced that government is closing all 13 Service Canada Community offices in the province.

Ottawa cuts back Customs presence at Canada-US border crossings
Globe and Mail, February 16, 2011
On April 1, the federal government is closing three Canada-US border posts and reducing the hours that four others will be open. Ottawa says these seven crossings – largely in rural Quebec, Ontario and Saskatchewan – are little used and cross-border

Union slams feds for cutting services to rural NL
Toronto Sun, February 7, 2011
The feds announced last week they would be closing 13 Service Canada offices in rural Newfoundland and Labrador, as well as five in Cape Breton

More money for rural medical students: CFMS
CBC.ca, February 7, 2011
The Canadian Federation of Medical Students (CFMS) is calling on the federal government to give more money to medical students from rural and low-income ...

Rural exodus underway
Riverview ThisWeek, February 7, 2011
FREDERICTON - New figures released by Statistics Canada confirm what many in New Brunswick already suspected - the province's rural counties are ...

Rural economies face decline: economist
Telegraph-Journal,
The sessions are being held just as new figures from Statistics Canada reveal a significant population exodus from New Brunswick's rural counties.

Another blow to service
Northern Pen,
..., the decision has been made to axe Service Canada community offices across rural Canada. ...

Closure of Service Canada rural offices concerns MP
Cape Breton Post, January 28th, 2011
“They were set up as pilot projects eight to 10 years ago and the intent was to put a person in place in some of the smaller rural communities that would be ...

Territories have lowest seatbelt usage in Canada
CBC.ca, January 28th, 2011
A Transport Canada observational survey finds that rural communities in the Northwest Territories have the lowest seatbelt usage in Canada, at just 38 per cent.

Closure of community offices takes jobs and services from rural communities
The Packet, Febuary 2nd, 2011
The closure of Service Canada Community Offices will leave many rural Canadians without access to federal services, information and resources.